Category Archives: UK news

People living with incontinence face shortage of sanitary pads as NHS limits supplies

Posted on by

More than half of NHS trusts have cap on availability of products, forcing patients to pay for products themselves

Millions of people across the UK living with incontinence are facing shortages of sanitary products due to supplies being rationed by NHS trusts, according to a coalition of charities.

The shortages are leading to a “pad gap” where people are having to pay for incontinence products themselves, according to an open letter from organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, Prostate Cancer UK, and Bowel and Bladder UK.

Continue reading...

Seven arrested over alleged support for Palestine Action at RAF Lakenheath protest

Posted on by

Protesters held on Sunday after joining a Lakenheath Alliance for Peace encampment outside airbase in Suffolk

Seven people have been arrested under suspicion of supporting the banned group Palestine Action after a protest in Suffolk.

They were arrested on Sunday morning after joining a peace encampment to create a blockade outside the main gate of Lakenheath airbase. The protest was organised after media reports that a US fighter jet shot down in Iran on Friday had taken off from the Lakenheath base.

Continue reading...

UK has detained 76 ‘age-disputed’ children under one in, one out scheme

Posted on by

Concerns raised over minors placed in adult detention centres since removals began under scheme in September

More than 70 children from various conflict zones whose ages were disputed by the Home Office have been held in detention centres in the UK in preparation for forced removal to France under the government’s “one in, one out” scheme, research shows.

The one in, one out initiative means each small boat arrival can be forcibly returned to France in exchange for another person – who has not attempted the crossing – being brought to the UK legally.

Continue reading...

Labour to back down on foie gras and fur bans to ease EU trade deal

Posted on by

Exclusive: Animal welfare charities ‘bitterly disappointed’ UK government plans to backtrack on manifesto promises

  • This article contains an image of a duck being force-fed that some readers may find upsetting

The UK government is to break a manifesto commitment to ban foie gras imports, and has declined to stop fur imports, after the EU made these red lines in its discussions for a trade deal.

Animal welfare charities say they are “bitterly disappointed” that ministers are failing to use powers granted by Brexit to restrict the import of these “cruel” items.

Continue reading...

Waitrose employee sacked after stopping shoplifter from taking Easter eggs

Posted on by

Walker Smith, 54, who worked for retailer for 17 years, says he grabbed bag from thief before they escaped

A Waitrose employee of 17 years has described his devastation after being sacked for stopping a shoplifter who had ransacked a display of Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.

Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a branch of Waitrose in Clapham Junction, south London, was going about his normal duties when a customer stopped him. “They told me someone had filled up a Waitrose bag with the eggs,” he said.

Continue reading...

Pepsi drops Wireless sponsorship amid criticism of Kanye West booking

Posted on by

Sponsor pulls out after Keir Starmer calls decision to book rapper who wrote song titled Heil Hitler ‘deeply concerning’

Pepsi has said it is withdrawing its sponsorship of a UK music festival that is due to be headlined by Kanye West after Keir Starmer joined criticism of the event.

The musician is understood to have not yet made an application to come to Britain and could be blocked under powers allowing the authorities to do so if his presence is deemed not conducive to the public good.

Continue reading...

Iran conflict to forefront of UK religious and political leaders’ Easter messages

Posted on by

Archbishop of Canterbury to issue urgent call for peace, as PM exhorts Britons to ‘choose community over division’

Religious and political leaders in the UK are highlighting the conflict in the Middle East in their Easter messages, calling for “peace, justice and freedom” in the region.

The archbishop of Canterbury will deliver her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday as the Church of England’s top bishop. Dame Sarah Mullally will call “with renewed urgency” for peace in the Middle East and pray for “an end to the violence and destruction” in the region.

Continue reading...

Man arrested at court while attending hearing of Jewish ambulance arson suspects

Posted on by

Met police say 19-year-old was detained in connection with attack after officers recognised him at arraignment

A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the arson attack on Jewish volunteer ambulances in north-west London, the Metropolitan police has said.

The force said the 19-year-old man was arrested on Saturday morning at Westminster magistrates court, where three other men were charged over the arson attack.

Continue reading...

What are peptides, are they safe and is there evidence to back up the hype?

Posted on by

Influencers and athletes are among those claiming substances can help with injury repair, weight loss and angi-ageing

From influencers to athletes, high-profile figures are hailing peptides as the route to wellness, claiming they help with injury repair, weight loss, anti-ageing and mood. We take a look at what these substances are, and the murky industry surrounding them.

Continue reading...

Medicines watchdog to investigate UK peptide clinics over health claims

Posted on by

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds several clinics making potentially unlawful claims about benefits of unregulated therapies

The medicines regulator is investigating whether UK clinics are breaking the law by making claims about the benefits of unregulated, experimental peptide therapies, the Guardian can reveal.

Interest in experimental peptides has boomed in recent years. The substances are delivered by injection and are touted by sellers, influencers and even some medics as aiding everything from anti-ageing to recovery from injury.

Continue reading...

New North Sea drilling would barely reduce UK gas imports at all, data shows

Posted on by

Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1%

Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.

The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.

Continue reading...

Biometric checks stalled again for cross-Channel travellers

Posted on by

Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers

Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say.

Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays.

Continue reading...

‘Wild west’ reformer pilates boom is causing rise in injuries, experts warn

Posted on by

Lack of regulation for specialist classes leaves UK fitness enthusiasts at risk, say professional bodies

The boom in reformer pilates has created a “wild west” of studios where poor regulation has resulted in inexperienced teachers and a rise in injuries, professional standards bodies have warned.

Pilates is not formally or legally regulated, and as its popularity has surged, industry experts say, so too has the growth of packed reformer-based classes often led by instructors with limited training.

Continue reading...

Two more arrested on suspicion of murder after pedestrian dies in Barnsley collision

Posted on by

Total of four, including 17-year-old boy, in police custody after fatal incident in Cudworth area on Friday evening

Two further suspects, including a 17-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a fatal collision in Barnsley on Friday afternoon.

This comes after two people, a 60-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, were arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of murder after a man died after a collision in the Cudworth area of Barnsley. These two suspects remain in custody.

Continue reading...

‘Over the top and fun:’ TGI Fridays boss insists time is right for a UK revival

Posted on by

Ray Blanchette admits he may be a ‘little crazy’ as he outlines chain’s hopes of building 1,000 outlets globally

“I am a little crazy maybe,” admits Ray Blanchette, a former TGI Fridays kitchen manager who has taken on the revival of the bar-restaurant chain’s UK business in the face of blasting industry headwinds.

Blanchette’s family investment firm, Sugarloaf, rescued the Dallas-based parent business from administration in 2025. He then went on to pick up its UK arm in January after the local franchisee got into difficulties, retaining 33 UK restaurants but closing 16, with the loss of 456 jobs.

Continue reading...

Extend fully paid maternity leave for UK teachers to stem exodus, union says

Posted on by

NASUWT says full entitlement should be increased to 26 weeks and paternity pay also improved

Full maternity pay for teachers across the UK should be increased to 26 weeks to help stem the exodus of women in their 30s from classrooms, a union leader has said.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said it was a “national scandal” that so many teachers who quit said inadequate maternity support was one of the reasons.

Continue reading...

Three teenagers arrested after 14-year-old boy shot dead in south-east London

Posted on by

Boys aged 14 and 16 and 18-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder after shooting in Woolwich

Police have launched a murder investigation after a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot in Woolwich, south-east London. Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Officers received reports of a shooting on Lord Warwick Street, Woolwich, at about 3.40pm on Thursday, the Metropolitan police said.

Continue reading...

UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes

Posted on by

Alan Turing Institute told by funder to offer better strategy and more value for money after board was reminded of legal duties by watchdog

The UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding.

The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan Turing Institute was reminded of its legal duties by the charity watchdog after a whistleblower complaint.

Continue reading...

Young people ‘more likely to leave for health reasons when in low-paid, insecure jobs’

Posted on by

Research for TUC analyses link between job quality and economic inactivity, as UK youth unemployment rises

Young people in the UK are more likely to leave their job for health reasons and become economically inactive when they work in insecure, low-paid sectors, a study has found.

Research carried out for the Trades Union Congress by the consultancy Timewise charts a connection between the jobs young people are most likely to do – in hospitality, retail and care, for example – and the proportion of people leaving because of ill health.

Continue reading...

Trump claims Starmer is weak as he mocks PM and UK aircraft carriers

Posted on by

Footage shows US president saying UK ‘should be our best’ ally and accusing PM of prevarication over sending ships

Footage has emerged of Donald Trump mocking Keir Starmer by claiming the prime minister said he would have to consult his team before deciding whether to send UK aircraft carriers to the Middle East.

In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to impersonate Starmer during an Easter lunch speech at the White House.

Continue reading...